Pittsburgh's Bricolage theater recognized by Backstage.com as a leader in immersive theater

Bricolage is becoming synonymous with immersive theater and many of the folks outside of Pittsburgh are recognizing the Pittsburgh theater company as a leader in the field. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust yesterday sent a press release to congratulate Bricolage on its latest national recognition, as one of seven companies "recently lauded as producing groundbreaking immersive theater throughout the world." Backstage.com included Bricolage Production Company with Punchdrunk, Dream Think Speak, Fruit for the Apocalypse, Third Rail Productions, Speakeasy Dollhouse and We Players, "producing work throughout the world in locations including the UK, Boston, California, New York, Japan, South Korea, Moscow, Australia and Holland."

Here's the rest:

"The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is proud of the well-deserved national recognition Bricolage has received," shared J. Kevin McMahon, President & CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "Bricolage has enlivened Pittsburgh's Cultural District with first-rate arts offerings, and the company's creativity and energy have brought diversity and new audiences to the District. The Trust will to continue to spearhead efforts to help develop, nurture and sustain vibrant, 'homegrown' arts activity, whenever it is feasible."

"We are truly humbled and honored to be in the company of such inspiring artistic organizations," shared Jeffrey Carpenter, Artistic Director for Bricolage Production Company. "Bricolage would not even be near such a list without the full support of Kevin McMahon, Veronica Corpuz and the entire Cultural Trust team. This partnership has enabled us to bring our crazy ideas to life, and we owe a lot to their vision and willingness to share resources in support of our creative insanity. A big thanks too, to Paul Organisak! Working with Teatro de los Sentidos in the Trust's 2008 International Festival of Firsts galvanized and inspired a long-time dream for us, one that will ripple out for decades to come!"

For more than 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find career advice and casting information. Established in December 1960 by Ira Eaker and Allen Zwerdling, Backstage is the trusted industry source where actors, singers and dancers can connect with the greater performing arts community. The article that recognizes Bricolage Production Company for its ground-breaking immersive work was written by K.C. Wright and posted on August 5, 2014. The article provides the following mention of the Pittsburgh production company:

Bricolage (Pittsburgh, Penn.)"Bricolage" is defined as "making artful use of what is at hand." This Pittsburgh-based theater company embraces its name by devising works with location, current events, and audience engagement in mind. Housed in a former Turkish bathhouse, Bricolage recently produced "Ojo," in which audience members receive their evening's itinerary from a mock travel agency at the start of the performance, and "STRATA," an evocative and immersive journey through a "refitnessing center."

This is not the first national recognition for Bricolage. In July/August of 2013, Bricolage graced the cover of American Theater Magazine, highlighting the 2012 immersive world premiere of STRATA—an urban adventure that required guests to "arrive at a secret destination, make contact with [their] Agent, and embark on a private rite of passage where the choices [they made determined their] destiny." OJO, another immersive theater project created by the production company, premiered as part of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival and was made possible by the Pittsburgh Foundation's Investing in Professional Artists residency grant.

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